Is Forest Hills Safe? Queens Livability, Crime & Rent
Forest Hills scores 6.3 median (IQR: 5.9–6.7): a safe, tree-dense neighborhood with excellent walkability that trades transit convenience for stability and green cover.
Forest Hills at a glance
- Borough
- Queens
- Livability score
- 6.3/10
- Borough rank
- #6 of 27
- Safety verdict
- Much Higher Than Average
- Crimes (12 mo)
- 3,877
- Median listing
- $0
- Subway stations
- 1 (63 Dr-Rego Park)
- Active listings
- 42
- Data updated
- 2026-04-05
Is Forest Hills Safe?
Forest Hills, Queens scores 6.3/10 for overall livability, ranking #6 of 27 Queens neighborhoods. Forest Hills scores 6.3 median (IQR: 5.9–6.7): a safe, tree-dense neighborhood with excellent walkability that trades transit convenience for stability and green cover.
This score aggregates live NYPD crime data, 311 safety complaints, shooting incidents, and building health signals within walking distance. Safety varies by block — check a specific Forest Hills address below for a block-level breakdown.
Score Overview
Vertical line = borough median. Scale: 0-10.
Neighborhood Character
You'll find yourself in a heavily treed neighborhood where the canopy is nearly complete—94 trees within a 200-meter radius create a sheltered, suburban feel despite the urban density. The building stock is dominated by high-rises (52%) and mid-rises (38%), giving Forest Hills a structured, planned appearance that reflects its early 20th-century garden community origins. Parks are distributed across the area—Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center, The Painter's Playground, and Horace Harding Playground average 572 meters away—but the real amenity is overhead: a canopy density rating of 9.5/10 means shade is constant. You'll access the M and R lines at 63 Drive–Rego Park station, though the commute score of 3.5 flags what residents experience as a meaningful limitation.
Analysis based on 42 properties scored across 30+ data points
Livability & Restoration
Tree Canopy
94 trees
Avg within 200m | Density: 9.5/10
10 additional trees per block correlates with health benefits equivalent to being 7 years younger (Kardan et al., 2015)
Park Access
Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center
Avg 572m away | Score: 2.4/10
Living within 300m of green space associated with 30% fewer antidepressant prescriptions (Taylor et al., 2015)
Acoustic Quality
5/10
Noise proxy score (higher = quieter)
Chronic noise above 55 dB at night associated with 8% cardiovascular mortality increase (Basner et al., 2014)
Street Character
0/10
Enclosure: 0/10
What is the ART Score?
ART stands for Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) — the framework environmental psychologists use to measure whether a place helps your brain recover from mental fatigue, or pushes it deeper into overload. Cities deplete directed attention (the effortful focus you use at work); exposure to restorative environments replenishes it.
We compute an ART score for every block by combining four signals: access to restorative zones (parks, museums, libraries), sensory load (nightlife and tourist density), street vitality (Jane Jacobs’ “eyes on the street”), and third places (Oldenburg’s informal community spaces).
Meaningfully more restorative than the Queens average — expect lower sensory load and better access to restorative zones than most of the borough.
What drives the score
- +Restorative zones. Museums, libraries, community gardens, and parks within walking distance. “Soft fascination” stimuli (clouds, tree branches, water) let directed attention recover without effort — the Kaplans’ core mechanism.
- −Sensory load. Bar and nightclub density (5+ within 150m), firehouse siren corridors, tourist chokepoints, and very high foot traffic push the score down by up to 8 points.
- +Street vitality (Jacobs, 1961). Permitted block parties, farmers markets, and community festivals over the past 12 months — a proxy for “eyes on the street” and the informal surveillance that makes blocks feel safe and maintained.
- +Third places (Oldenburg, 1989). Cafés, public plazas (POPS), community centers — the “anchors of community life” that buffer against social isolation. Loneliness has been linked to 29% higher incident coronary heart disease risk (Valtorta et al., 2016).
Health mechanism. Directed-attention fatigue (DAF) is linked to impaired decision-making, irritability, and elevated cortisol. A meta-analysis of 60+ studies (Ohly et al., 2016) found restorative environment exposure significantly improves attention-task performance (Hedges’ g ≈ 0.32) and reduces negative affect.
Theoretical foundations. Kaplan & Kaplan (1989), The Experience of Nature; Jacobs (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Oldenburg (1989), The Great Good Place.
Transit & Commute
Subway Stations
Commute Score
3.5/10
Borough median: 5.5/10
Walk Score Proxy
0/10
Based on street geometry analysis
Financial Landscape
Median Price
$0
Price per Sq Ft
$0
Price Distribution
Price by Building Type
Investment Indicators
Avg Unused FAR
0 sqft
Development rights potential
Unused development rights valued at $30-$80/sqft in Brooklyn (Glaeser, 2011)
Avg Days on Market
0
Market velocity signal
Multi-Family Stock
0%
2-4 family buildings
Multi-family owner-occupants build 2.4x wealth vs single-family (Herbert, 2013)
Outdoor & Green Space
Avg Tree Count
94
Within 200m radius
Canopy Density
9.5/10
Normalized canopy coverage
Park Network
- Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center
- The Painter's Playground
- Horace Harding Playground
- Remsen Family Cemetery
- Fleetwood Triangle
Avg distance: 572m
Practical Living
Building Types
Who Forest Hills Is For
Families prioritizing safety and schools
Safety percentile of 81% in borough, practical score of 9 (highest category), and established reputation for top schools make this a base for stability-focused households
Green-space seekers without car dependency concerns
Canopy density 9.5/10 and five nearby parks offset the outdoor score of 4.7; art/livability score of 7.3 beats borough median significantly
Long-term residents accepting transit trade-offs
Commute score of 3.5 is well below borough median (5.5), so this works for remote workers or those with Queens-based employment
Pros & Cons
Strengths
Exceptional tree coverage and canopy density
94 trees within 200m radius, canopy density 9.5/10—highest possible livability component for green space
Much safer than borough average
Safety percentile of 81% in Queens; low rodent complaints (85) reflect maintenance standards
Strong walkability and practical services
Practical score of 9 (vs. borough median 5.3) indicates dense access to essentials, retail, and utilities
Art and livability significantly above borough baseline
Art/Livability score 7.3 vs. borough median 4.8; established cultural infrastructure and institutional anchors
Trade-offs
Commute performance is weak
Commute score 3.5 vs. borough median 5.5; single transit pair (M, R) limits routing flexibility
Crime trend is worsening
12-month crime trend shows +140.5% increase; 902 total crimes recorded despite strong safety percentile
High noise complaint volume
1,027 noise complaints flagged as high; dense mid/high-rise building mix contributes to acoustic pressure
Outdoor recreation score lags borough
Outdoor score 4.7 below borough median 5.0, despite parks nearby—likely reflects limited waterfront and athletic facilities relative to neighborhood size
Score Any Address in Forest Hills
Get detailed livability scores based on building health, transit access, safety, noise levels, and 15+ NYC data sources.
Search an Address in Forest HillsFrequently Asked Questions about Forest Hills
1Is Forest Hills safe?
By NYPD data, Forest Hills is rated "Much Higher Than Average" — safer than 19% of Queens neighborhoods. 3,877 crime incidents and 1 shooting incident over the past 12 months. See the safety page for the full breakdown.
2What is the average rent in Forest Hills?
Rents in Forest Hills, Queens vary significantly by building and apartment type. The median listing price is $0. Use DwellCheck to research specific addresses.
3How is transit access in Forest Hills?
Forest Hills has a commute score of 3.5/10. 1 subway stations serve the area: 63 Dr-Rego Park.
4What are the best streets in Forest Hills?
The best streets depend on your priorities. Use DwellCheck to compare specific addresses across livability, safety, transit, and environmental factors.
5What is Forest Hills known for?
Forest Hills sits in Queens and ranks #6 of 27 Queens neighborhoods on DwellCheck's livability score (6.3/10). It's served by 1 subway station (63 Dr-Rego Park), with a median listing price of $0. Forest Hills scores 6.3 median (IQR: 5.9–6.7): a safe, tree-dense neighborhood with excellent walkability that trades transit convenience for stability and green cover.
6What is it like to live in Forest Hills?
Living in Forest Hills, Queens weights against six livability dimensions: practical (HPD-violation density), commute (subway proximity), arts/culture (venue density), outdoor (parks + trees), financial (price level), investment (price trend). Forest Hills's composite is 6.3/10. Forest Hills scores 6.3 median (IQR: 5.9–6.7): a safe, tree-dense neighborhood with excellent walkability that trades transit convenience for stability and green cover. For the block-by-block view, run any specific Forest Hills address through DwellCheck.
7Is Forest Hills expensive?
Median listing price in Forest Hills, Queens is $0 based on 42 active listings as of 2026-04-05. Whether that reads "expensive" depends on the comparison: it's lower than Manhattan averages and varies considerably by building. Rent-stabilized units in Forest Hills can run 20-40% below the median; check DHCR rent history for any specific address to verify.
8Can you walk around Forest Hills at night?
Forest Hills is classified as "Much Higher Than Average" by NYPD CompStat data. Over the past 12 months it recorded 1 shooting incident and 3,877 total crime incidents. Walking at night carries the same risk profile as anywhere in NYC: stay on commercial corridors with foot traffic, avoid empty side streets after midnight, and prefer subway lines that run 24/7.
9Is Forest Hills dangerous?
By NYPD data, Forest Hills is rated "Much Higher Than Average" — safer than 19% of Queens neighborhoods. 3,877 crime incidents over 12 months. Block-level risk varies; check the address-level safety score for any specific street or building.
10What parts of Forest Hills should I avoid?
NYPD CompStat reports incidents at the precinct level, not block-by-block, so a granular "avoid this street" answer isn't possible from public data alone. The most reliable signal at the block level is DwellCheck's address-level safety score, which weights NYPD incidents within a 250m radius of a specific building. As a general rule across NYC: industrial blocks with no foot traffic are higher-risk than residential blocks; subway-station-adjacent commercial corridors are lowest-risk.
11Is Forest Hills a good place to live?
Forest Hills scores 6.3/10 for overall livability and ranks in the 19th percentile for safety in Queens. Forest Hills scores 6.3 median (IQR: 5.9–6.7): a safe, tree-dense neighborhood with excellent walkability that trades transit convenience for stability and green cover. Whether it's a good fit depends on what you weight: families, solo renters, and remote workers each prioritize different factors (noise, transit access, parks, building quality).
12What is the average DwellScore in Forest Hills?
Median composite score is 6.3 (IQR: 5.9–6.7). Practical services (9.0) and art/livability (7.3) are the leading categories; commute (3.5) is the constraint pulling the overall score down from higher levels.
13How safe is Forest Hills compared to the rest of Queens?
You're in the 81st percentile for safety in the borough—a 'much-safer' designation. However, crimes increased 140.5% over 12 months (902 total), suggesting recent worsening despite the percentile ranking.
14What transit options serve Forest Hills?
The M and R lines serve the neighborhood via 63 Drive–Rego Park station. The low commute score (3.5) reflects limited routing and frequency relative to other Queens neighborhoods.
15Why is the practical score so high?
Practical score of 9 reflects dense walkable infrastructure: high building count (42 tracked), mid/high-rise density, and proximity to retail, services, and utilities. This is a neighborhood where you can meet daily needs on foot.
16What are noise levels like?
1,027 noise complaints were filed—flagged as high. The predominance of high-rise (52%) and mid-rise (38%) buildings contributes to acoustic pressure from density and neighbor proximity.
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